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St. John's Reacts to RJ Luis Announcement After College Basketball Season

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Escarpio | Last updated Apr 23, 2025 11:40 AM ET

Rick Pitino led the St. John's men's basketball team back to college basketball prominence this past season.

The Red Storm won the Big East Tournament title and entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed. They defeated Omaha in the first round but were ultimately eliminated by No. 10 seed Arkansas in the second round of March Madness.

After their loss in the NCAA Tournament, Pitino and the Red Storm suffered another blow. Big East Player of the Year, RJ Luis Jr., announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.

Despite his departure from the Big East program, the Red Storm's official social media account recently highlighted a major accomplishment from Luis.

Luis has been named to the First Team All-Met.

The award was originally announced by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association.

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First Team for Zuby, Kadary and RJ
Honorable Mention for Deivon and Aaron

→ 6th time in the organization’s history that three First Team selections have come from a single school ⚡️
→ All six times were by St. John’s

️:… pic.twitter.com/mGbthOrbOm
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) April 23, 2025

This past season with the St. John's Red Storm, Luis posted 18.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He led the Red Storm in scoring average and was the team's second-leading rebounder behind fellow First Team All-Met member Zuby Ejiofor.

A couple of other St. John's players were also included in the All-Met announcement. Kadary Richmond was named to the First Team All-Met while Deivon Smith and Aaron Scott were part of the All-Met Honorable Mention team.

Pitino joined his players in the All-Met hierarchy. He was named the Lou Carnesecca Coach of the Year by the organization.

Pitino will head into his third season with the program, having already established St. John's as a college basketball powerhouse.

Despite losing RJ Luis Jr. to the portal, the Red Storm have welcomed a plethora of talent through the transfer portal, including Dillon Mitchell of the Cincinnati Bearcats and Ian Jackson of the North Carolina Tar Heels, two former five-star recruits.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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